we sang mulan with the elders this morning as we went to a less actives house)
can you believe i'm halfway through this transfer and a quarter of the way done with my mission? shenme dongxi!! what the heck?!
i feel like i have so much to write this week. some really exciting (for me and my life) stuff. let's see how it all fits...
yes, last p-day was spent with the aborigines. so cool! so freaking cool. just like america and australia, taiwan has a group of ancient inhabitants. and just like in america and australia, they look different than your typical taiwanese dixiong or jiemei (brother or sister). their eyes are bigger and their skin is darker. many of them live in an area called sandimen that is in my district and one of the branches i serve in. some members come from tribes that live up in the mountains there. the elders are teaching a group of 8 or so, which i guess constitutes a tribe. pretty cool! almost all aborigines are already christian. they're conversion happened long enough ago that it have become a big part of their culture. i want to research it when i get home, but i imagine it could have happened around the time hawaii was taken over by missionaries. so, we went up the mountains pretty far. we were surrounded by green and clouds. it was beautiful to say the least. we visited a member's sister's home. she showed us jewelry that she makes out of pig hooves, pig teeth and chicken feet. way cool. and we got to try on traditional aborigine clothing. we mostly hung out and took tons of pictures of their art and living style. we ate a simple lunch of guava and sweet potatoes. i made a fool of myself during lunch, more than once, and had everyone laughing at me. you know my awkward embarassment? it has only gotten worse on this island! zao gao (messy cake/dang it)! after eating and chatting, the elders found an elementary school and played volleyball with the kids. the byu team needs to recruit in the mountains of southern taiwan! the kids were so good!!! on the way home we stopped and looked at some cool sculptures and i found the most amazing shade of green (you would have appreciated it, mom). i also got to play with "shy fern" for the first time. have you heard of it? when you touch it it coils up (or "shies away"). way neat.
today we went as a district to visit the calligraphy lady. my comp and i are going next week. i wish i had something more exciting to say about it. but i don't.
let me tell you about why friday was the most amazing day of my life in pingdong so far. you will never believe how loved i am by american friends. in the afternoon we went to tian jiemei's house in the middle of nowhere. she's a flower farmer, so we helped her pull weeds in the rows and rows and rows of potted flowers her family owns. between dodging spiderwebs and tossing weeds into the wheelbarrow, my companion and i had good conversations (we always do!). i told her funny stories from the hospital, trying to get chris pfau and kyler to take me with them, signing "take the damn bags" furiously and what not. we laughed and decided that you, mom and dad, are so strong for going through it. i remember one time arguing with mom because my legs were tired and i knew that i was standing up when all i wanted to do was sit down. she tried and tried to assure me that i was laying in a bed, but i didn't believe her. that must have been HARD. but, now we all know for a fact what the lord's comfort feels like and dad, you know that i never want to divorce you. as we rode to tian jiemei's house i had the worst attitude, but i'm so glad we went! serving her helped me so much. and seeing her conditions made me grateful. she, her husband and their three kids share a bedroom and bathroom. they have one big bed and no dressers. i think she goes to her parents' across the driveway to use the kitchen. it's so different than what we're used to. but she's happy and faithful! it amazes me. i could be so much more resourceful and grateful.
that night we were taken to dinner by a less active. it was a buffet and it was delicious. but, even in one of the nicer restaurants in pingdong, we managed to find a beetle in the french fries. funny! a little protein never hurt anyone. haha after dinner we had a lesson with aki. and i received what the elders told me was waiting at the church for me... a wonderful package! thank you mom and dad!! i was so excited to find everything that was inside. i smell better than i have in weeks (thanks to "amazing grace")! the only problem, the black shoes are too big. maybe i need a six in those particular ones. but the marzipan is delicious, the handkerchieves are handy and i'm wearing a camisole as i type (under a dress of course). what was with the package? 21 LETTERS! holy cow! amazing! i have such great friends.
i'm trying to think of other good things from this week to tell you about. i'm sorry that i'm not more spiritual. i should be bringing tears to the eyes who read this but i'm still just jade and tend to share silly details.
good points of the week:
-my "hong kong foot" is gone! i'm clean and have taken off the bells i've been wearing the past three weeks.
-on saturday i locked our keys in the apartment. the guanli (security guard type guy) at our building heard me call myself a bendan (stupid egg, more derogatory than you'd think) and now he calls me that.
-i'm working on BOLDNESS. i'm doing what i think i need to do regardless of what may be holding me back (language, stereotypes, comp, members, habits, etc.). my first step? we have a really pessimistic investigator that thinks we don't know anything because we're too young and american. she was complaining and complaining. most of the lesson i wasn't saying much because i couldn't understand what she was talking about. but, heavenly father gave me courage and i told her pretty frankly (more frank than i think i have ever been, i'm not too confrontational) that we can't help her if she won't let us. i think i kind of scolded her, actually, as i told her we can't change her life, only she can and that she hasn't been doing what it takes to have the gospel change her. i guess i've got b... (that last sentence is for you, dad. i hope it makes you smile.)
-i met the most perfect little family. the parents have no interest, but the kids are so good. maybe another baptism soon? i think/hope so.
-i had warm almond milk the other day at the 85 cafe, as my companion and i cut out laminated paper dolls to teach modesty. it was rainy outside and kind of perfect. then apologize by one republic (?) came on and i thought of lauren nani and things couldn't have been better. "you tell me that you need me, then you go and cut me down... it's too late to apologize!" that song will always always remind me of her.
-i'm so awkward! we had a lesson with aki about everyone's favorite law- the law of chastity! she was so good! she totally accepted it all. then she started telling a story about an lds woman that didn't get married until her forties. the month after her wedding she was always really tired. her friends asked her why... you can imagine the rest. i got so awkward! i don't get awkward about that kind of stuff!! i guess i'm a changed woman?
-yesterday i had some good thoughts. i read tc's blog that you sent, thank you for sending it. i'm so amazed by his family! they are so so so strong! i thought about him being a missionary with ryan (it was his birthday yesterday). i imagine ryan being his trainer and them having so much fun! i'm grateful for them. i think that those types of angel are the ones preparing the hearts of the people the missionaries are trying to find. both spirit missionaries and missionaries in the world need to be working together with the spirit. with people like tc, ryan, scotty mitchell and countless others on the other side, we know that those who don't receive the gospel in this life are in good hands.
that's it for now. i'm still in taiwan. my lips are normal size, but now i'm trying to figure out the infected bug bite on my elbow (it's gross and full of pus). my first journal is almost full. my second zone conference is tomorrow. and i'm happy!
i love you and miss you all! thank you for the emails. tricia, thank you for getting on the girls and helping them write me.
love,
sista jade
Monday, May 26, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
transfer 2: Week 1 Motive Power Give You Super Power
I apologize. I left this e-mail out a few weeks ago. Please forgive me.
-Mandi
what? i'm already on my second transfer? the first was a short transfer because
of the president's travel schedule, but still... i've been in taiwan for a
month. can you believe it? there are some days that i can, some days that feel
like i'm never going back to real life. but others it is flying by. i'm grateful
that i love it here.
sunday night i got my move call. i'm going to pingdong. it's more rural than
gaoxiong, about a half hour train ride away. my companion will be sister juang,
her parents are taiwanese but she grew up in california. i think it will be
really beneficial... she's fluent in mandarin, taiwanese and english. so, if
nothing else improves this transfer, i hope my language skills do. i've had such
a wonderful time in second ward. and i love sister ipson. but i'm excited for a
new place. what i'm not excited for is the fact that i hear pingdong is hot
as... when i told my district leader about my move he said, "have fun. it's like
the hottest place." to which i replied, "what? are you serious? i almost turned
down my call because i thought taiwan would be too hot for me to handle!" sister
angulo went on exchanges there and said it isn't as humid as here. i guess i'll
know in a few hours. if you get a taiwanese obituary about my month of life
here, you'll know that it was so hot that i died.
let me tell you about the two most impacting events of the week...
brace yourselves. and get a bowl or pot or something to throw up in.
my foot has been hurting a bit. i showed my companion the part that hurts and is
uncomfortable and she assured me it was just dry skin. the next day it hurt
more. i wanted to take off my shoes all day but had no way to. i asked if we
could stop by and see hong jiemei, my taiwanese mom and a nurse. we went to
their house. i was so embarassed. her son and husband sat in the front room and
watched/listened to the whole thing. i showed her my gross foot. i am the first
ozawa girl to have ATHLETE'S FOOT. disgusting! mom, i'll pause and wait for you
to finish dry heaving. ... ... ... ... so, she told me to change my socks every
day. (duh! i know i'm gross because i have athlete's foot, but come on. i always
change my socks .) and hong dixiong (brother hong) told me to let
my shoes dry out for a few days before wearing them. she gave me special oxygen
infused water to soak my foot in. hong dixiong gave me his type of comfort by
telling me that he has had recurring athlete's foot for twenty years. usually
it's undercontrol, but when it rains or his feet get wet it comes back and gets
really itchy. lovely! recurring foot fungus. rad. i'm so grateful that we
followed my call packet's instructions- my first aid kit (which most
missionaries, including both of my comps so far, don't have) has fungus cream!
for the next four weeks, morning and night, i will be giving my right foot's
toes a mini massage and then washing my hands over and over and over. try not to
judge me, please accept me when i come home. i called sister hsu about it. she
told me that a lot of elders get it in their armpits. that's worse. and jock
itch is even worse. at least i haven't reached those points.
now, to move from teenage boy talk to sister missionary talk... elder richard g.
scott was here last week for our mission conference. mission conference is my
favorite thing! i got to see all of my mtc elders! i was so happy! i also saw
elder noorda and elder peterson and got to pray in front of everyone. elder
scott was so good. at first i was kind of like, "this man, an apostle, sounds
like everyone else." and then he bore his testimony of christ. it was amazing!
it strengthened mine so much. i know that he has seen some special things. and i
know that christ lives. other high points... this is a direct quote, "i, as an
apostle of the lord, command you to make a high priority of finding a companion
when you return home. don't put it off!" that is why i won't put it off. i shall
start now. i have 14 months on island, i'm sure i can find someone. just
kidding! but seriously, i haven't seen elders write so furiously fast. one told
me, "i was going to go home and go back to utah state, but now i'm going to go
to byu and find a wife. i have been commanded to." elder scott had some time
for us to ask questions. one brave elder stood and asked, "i've been thinking a
lot about my future family lately, especially about one point... what is the
church's stance on birth control?" jaws dropped! what? who asks that? who is
that bold? and who admits so openly to those thoughts? elder scott said, "start
as soon as possible. don't put off a family. the lord will provide." again, more
furious writing by the elders in the chapel.
elder anthony perkins came with elder scott. he was qian laoshi and shi laoshi's
mission president. he was a really cool guy. he spoke openly about his struggles
to find a testimony. i could see him going places in the church. he has a talk
that i read in the mtc. i don't remember the name, but if you're bored and
cruising around lds.org you should look it up.
one of my favorite parts of this week was visiting all of the people i've become
close to this move. i will miss them all so much. i'm excited to be able to
write them, and hopefully to visit them after my mission. two of my favorites
are monica and the hong family. monica has a baptismal date! i'm sad that i'll
miss it. when she asked me if i'd be there and i said no her face made me want
to cry! i'm so happy for her, though. she's the first baptism that i will have
done something for. she's amazing! she's so strong and so smart. the hong family
is living testimony of the gospel changing lives. before meeting with the
missionaries hong jiemei had gone to seven eleven and purchased divorce papers
(weird, i know). her sons barely had a relationship with their father. now,
she's baptized and so are two of her sons. hong dixiong will probably get
baptized with their youngest son in august! he knows that their family is
different now. he thanked the elders for their influence. last night we taught
them a really fun lesson and ate stinky tofu. josh cameron sent me a package
with those little things that you put in water and they grow into something,
these ones were dinosaurs. we compared the starting "pill" to our testimonies in
the beginning. the hot water was representative of things like prayer,
obedience, scriptures, church, good friends, etc. to make our testimony grow it
had to be completely submerged in the water, not half way in. we had to wait a
few minutes and have patience. and we had to make sure the water was warm
enough, it couldn't be cold, representing effort and desire. the boys really
liked it. it was good. i'm sure josh had no idea he would help me teach gospel
principles. chloe, i've decided you can marry the hongs' oldest son, qi liang.
he's pretty shuai (handsome) and really nice. he was the first to be baptized in
the family!
family, i'm glad you're doing well. i miss you all. i get to talk to you on the
phone in less than two weeks! what time would be best for me to call. i can in
the late afternoon on saturday (sometime between 3 and 5) or in the early
morning of sunday (between 6 and 8). i think those will be the times i can. let
me know what works best for you. i'll have 40 minutes! i can't wait.
muah! muah! muah!
sista jade
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
transfer 2: Week 3 Bind my Wandering heart to thee
family!
it was so good to talk to you! it made me miss you all so much more. i hope that the sound of my voice had the same effect on you. and i hope that hearing the way i talk and the things i talk about, proves that i'm a bit different but still the same.
update: my lip has gone down considerably but is still a bit swollen. in middle of the swelling is a whitish bump (i've said before, i'm glad my future husband (i assume) is not in taiwan and is not seeing me in such states) which we think is proof that it was a bite. still, i'm avoiding the foods i love a lot in hopes of keeping if from ballooning up again. i've been diligently taking the medicine prescribed. oh my word. you should have seen/heard me the first day i took it. i was loopy! first of all, i could barely stay awake. my companion and i were trying to plan and discuss things and i was asking questions based on passing thoughts and writing things that didn't make sense. stuff like, "has gao jiemei read the gospel of jesus christ pamphlet?" of course not, i've been here for all of her lessons. i know the answer to the question. my comp asked how many progressing investigators i wanted as our goal. i looked down and i had written threes from the top to the bottom of our goal area in our planner. we stopped at a seven eleven to make copies and i was making comments like, "i wish i could send liquids to my family. there is just so much juice here." weird. so, when our plans fell through, sister juang had me sleep some. she woke me up to tell me a man was coming to fix the dryer and that our night appt had cancelled. nothing really registered. she said that i kept repeating, "so, we're not going to aki's. a man is coming." then she looked at my eyes, and freaked a bit. my pupils have never been so dilated! my body is adjusting now, so "eating medicine" (the way it is translated in chinese) isn't as fun as it used to be. it still gets me kind of spacy though.
this email place is so rad right now, it played my favorite nelly fertado song and is not playing the best of jt! my feet can't stay still.
i'm having a hard time coming up with the high points of this week. i'll do my best...
friday was sister juang's birthday! we celebrated well. we ate at our favorite restaurant, the german cafe, and got cake at the 85 cafe. at the 85 i got almond milk and almost died of delight! it was like marzipan in liquid form. i think i could live off of it. when it gets cold i'll drink it warm! on saturday night we had dinner with the elders at the church and elder lancaster and swenson got a cake (i think they felt guilty for forgetting her birthday the day prior). elder chen make cookies and brownies and we brought wintermelon tea. it was a lot of fun! our district is very unified. the celebration continued, more or less, into yesterday. we used the church kitchen to bake cookies for our investigators and baked a cake using mix sis. juang's mom sent. we couldn't find powdered sugar so i made frosting with butter, brown sugar and milk. we put it on the cake while it was still hot, so it melted in a bit. it was really yummy and we were able to share it with the elders and one of their investigators. (they have a few kind of creepy investigators- one doesn't understand personal space and pleads from private english lessons from the sisters. yesterday's told me my teeth are beautiful and then asked me if i have a boyfriend in america. he's like 50. i don't know why but i got really flustered by the question and blushed in the way you are all familiar with.)
on friday we visited a less active, wu jiemei. she's a calligrapher. she showed us her work and explained about how important stroke order and brush technique is. it's all tied in to the qi of the body. she showed us the proper way to us the brush, you do not move your hands or arms, you stand and move your body only. she had some large sheets with a very difficult form of calligraphy written. she had us stand in a certain way and follow the strokes with the palms of our hands, our arms extended from the shoulder. it was crazy! i felt my qi. at the end my fingers were a strange tingly and my insides were a strange warm! so cool! i want to study it more when i get home. she explained the significance of technique in watercolor and bamboo painting. the pictures that used to look so simple to me are now so much more. next p-day we're going back and she's going to teach us more.
we're not going this p-day because we're going to san di men! you do not understand how exciting that is! i'll explain more next week. san di men is an are of taiwan, in the mountains, were a lot of aborigines live. our whole district is going and a tribe is going to teach us to make jewelry with feet and bones! i'm so excited! it's going to be amazing! i'll tell you ALL about it next week.
let me tell you about my favorite investigator here. her name is aki and she's getting baptized at the end of the month. she'll be the third baptism i've been involved with. (first was jia zheng. she was baptized my first friday. some people may not count her, but she has needed a lot of care as a new member so i think she counts. second is monica. she's getting baptized this month in kaohsiung.) aki is half japanese, so we're practically family. she has a lot of faith and completely changes her ways for the gospel. she has already purchased a new wardrobe to accommodate modesty. when we were teaching the plan of salvation we asked her if she believed it and then why. she said, "yes, of course i believe it. if joseph smith, our prophet, taught it then it is from god and is true." she is always bearing testimony of the restoration! she's a teacher. when she started obeying the word of wisdom, she told her students about it and the reason. she stopped providing green and red tea in class, replaced by fruit tea. now some of her students are obeying it too! she's wonderful! i love her.
next week i'll be one quarter of the way done with my mission. it seems like so much has passed really quickly but also that there is a lot ahead. i'm excited for what comes next. upon pondering how quickly it has gone, i realized how quickly life goes. we have such a short time to learn and grow and prepare to meet god! and it flies by! i think it's so easy to put off what i know i should do, thinking that i have forever to do it. my thoughts are often, "i can do that tomorrow." but one day tomorrows will run out. i have lists in my head of things to read, things to say, things to do. if i put it all off there is no way i will accomplish what i hope to. i'm going to try to get better at doing now what i could put off until tomorrow. elder beck, my last district leader, said, "be the missionary today that you want to be your last transfer." i think that goes with life too. we can be today what we want to be when we're aged and expecting the spirit world at any moment.
last p-day i got a big notebook. it's cool. i'm sure i could have found something more beautiful or better made in the us or if i had more time to look around here, but for now it will do. i've been putting all of the quotes that i have accumulated since i entered the mtc into the new book. it's so great! it makes me want to read and read and read. (when i return home, on top of all of cs lewis's works, i will read the great british men- henry david thoreau, henry wordsworth longfellow, ralph waldo emerson and the father's of our nation- ben franklin, thomas jefferson. i'm sure that all of them are members by now. those men are amazing. they think of such a higher plane than most. i am envious.) i've come across some really great great words. i'll leave you with one of my favorites from longfellow. "let us then labor for an inward stillness--an inward stillness and an inward healing. that perfect silence where the lips and heart are still, and we no longer entertain our own imperfect thoughts and vain opinions, but god alone speaks in us, and we wait in singleness of heart, that we may know his will, and in the silence of our spirits, that we may do his will and do that only." so good!
i love you all and miss you! mom and dad- be safe. remember to email me. girls- don't forget to write while mom and dad are gone!
love from across the pacific,
sister jade
it was so good to talk to you! it made me miss you all so much more. i hope that the sound of my voice had the same effect on you. and i hope that hearing the way i talk and the things i talk about, proves that i'm a bit different but still the same.
update: my lip has gone down considerably but is still a bit swollen. in middle of the swelling is a whitish bump (i've said before, i'm glad my future husband (i assume) is not in taiwan and is not seeing me in such states) which we think is proof that it was a bite. still, i'm avoiding the foods i love a lot in hopes of keeping if from ballooning up again. i've been diligently taking the medicine prescribed. oh my word. you should have seen/heard me the first day i took it. i was loopy! first of all, i could barely stay awake. my companion and i were trying to plan and discuss things and i was asking questions based on passing thoughts and writing things that didn't make sense. stuff like, "has gao jiemei read the gospel of jesus christ pamphlet?" of course not, i've been here for all of her lessons. i know the answer to the question. my comp asked how many progressing investigators i wanted as our goal. i looked down and i had written threes from the top to the bottom of our goal area in our planner. we stopped at a seven eleven to make copies and i was making comments like, "i wish i could send liquids to my family. there is just so much juice here." weird. so, when our plans fell through, sister juang had me sleep some. she woke me up to tell me a man was coming to fix the dryer and that our night appt had cancelled. nothing really registered. she said that i kept repeating, "so, we're not going to aki's. a man is coming." then she looked at my eyes, and freaked a bit. my pupils have never been so dilated! my body is adjusting now, so "eating medicine" (the way it is translated in chinese) isn't as fun as it used to be. it still gets me kind of spacy though.
this email place is so rad right now, it played my favorite nelly fertado song and is not playing the best of jt! my feet can't stay still.
i'm having a hard time coming up with the high points of this week. i'll do my best...
friday was sister juang's birthday! we celebrated well. we ate at our favorite restaurant, the german cafe, and got cake at the 85 cafe. at the 85 i got almond milk and almost died of delight! it was like marzipan in liquid form. i think i could live off of it. when it gets cold i'll drink it warm! on saturday night we had dinner with the elders at the church and elder lancaster and swenson got a cake (i think they felt guilty for forgetting her birthday the day prior). elder chen make cookies and brownies and we brought wintermelon tea. it was a lot of fun! our district is very unified. the celebration continued, more or less, into yesterday. we used the church kitchen to bake cookies for our investigators and baked a cake using mix sis. juang's mom sent. we couldn't find powdered sugar so i made frosting with butter, brown sugar and milk. we put it on the cake while it was still hot, so it melted in a bit. it was really yummy and we were able to share it with the elders and one of their investigators. (they have a few kind of creepy investigators- one doesn't understand personal space and pleads from private english lessons from the sisters. yesterday's told me my teeth are beautiful and then asked me if i have a boyfriend in america. he's like 50. i don't know why but i got really flustered by the question and blushed in the way you are all familiar with.)
on friday we visited a less active, wu jiemei. she's a calligrapher. she showed us her work and explained about how important stroke order and brush technique is. it's all tied in to the qi of the body. she showed us the proper way to us the brush, you do not move your hands or arms, you stand and move your body only. she had some large sheets with a very difficult form of calligraphy written. she had us stand in a certain way and follow the strokes with the palms of our hands, our arms extended from the shoulder. it was crazy! i felt my qi. at the end my fingers were a strange tingly and my insides were a strange warm! so cool! i want to study it more when i get home. she explained the significance of technique in watercolor and bamboo painting. the pictures that used to look so simple to me are now so much more. next p-day we're going back and she's going to teach us more.
we're not going this p-day because we're going to san di men! you do not understand how exciting that is! i'll explain more next week. san di men is an are of taiwan, in the mountains, were a lot of aborigines live. our whole district is going and a tribe is going to teach us to make jewelry with feet and bones! i'm so excited! it's going to be amazing! i'll tell you ALL about it next week.
let me tell you about my favorite investigator here. her name is aki and she's getting baptized at the end of the month. she'll be the third baptism i've been involved with. (first was jia zheng. she was baptized my first friday. some people may not count her, but she has needed a lot of care as a new member so i think she counts. second is monica. she's getting baptized this month in kaohsiung.) aki is half japanese, so we're practically family. she has a lot of faith and completely changes her ways for the gospel. she has already purchased a new wardrobe to accommodate modesty. when we were teaching the plan of salvation we asked her if she believed it and then why. she said, "yes, of course i believe it. if joseph smith, our prophet, taught it then it is from god and is true." she is always bearing testimony of the restoration! she's a teacher. when she started obeying the word of wisdom, she told her students about it and the reason. she stopped providing green and red tea in class, replaced by fruit tea. now some of her students are obeying it too! she's wonderful! i love her.
next week i'll be one quarter of the way done with my mission. it seems like so much has passed really quickly but also that there is a lot ahead. i'm excited for what comes next. upon pondering how quickly it has gone, i realized how quickly life goes. we have such a short time to learn and grow and prepare to meet god! and it flies by! i think it's so easy to put off what i know i should do, thinking that i have forever to do it. my thoughts are often, "i can do that tomorrow." but one day tomorrows will run out. i have lists in my head of things to read, things to say, things to do. if i put it all off there is no way i will accomplish what i hope to. i'm going to try to get better at doing now what i could put off until tomorrow. elder beck, my last district leader, said, "be the missionary today that you want to be your last transfer." i think that goes with life too. we can be today what we want to be when we're aged and expecting the spirit world at any moment.
last p-day i got a big notebook. it's cool. i'm sure i could have found something more beautiful or better made in the us or if i had more time to look around here, but for now it will do. i've been putting all of the quotes that i have accumulated since i entered the mtc into the new book. it's so great! it makes me want to read and read and read. (when i return home, on top of all of cs lewis's works, i will read the great british men- henry david thoreau, henry wordsworth longfellow, ralph waldo emerson and the father's of our nation- ben franklin, thomas jefferson. i'm sure that all of them are members by now. those men are amazing. they think of such a higher plane than most. i am envious.) i've come across some really great great words. i'll leave you with one of my favorites from longfellow. "let us then labor for an inward stillness--an inward stillness and an inward healing. that perfect silence where the lips and heart are still, and we no longer entertain our own imperfect thoughts and vain opinions, but god alone speaks in us, and we wait in singleness of heart, that we may know his will, and in the silence of our spirits, that we may do his will and do that only." so good!
i love you all and miss you! mom and dad- be safe. remember to email me. girls- don't forget to write while mom and dad are gone!
love from across the pacific,
sister jade
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Transfer 2 Week 2: I can see a lot of light in you
so, the strange english i see on scooters and clothes seems less appealing than it did at first. beside, who plans subject lines anyway. only a girl that lives for lists and "real simple" magazine. who knows what they'll be the next 14 months. this one is a sufjan song on repeat in my head this morning.
family, i'm happy to hear about all you're doing. i'm sad to have missed the luau! i'm sure you were all amazing. and dad! way to go! you have to send pictures of you and the rest of the family soon. i might be starting to forget what you all look like. just kidding! i would never.
so, i'm in pingdong. it is so cool. i love it here. it's a lot a lot a lot more rural. like moving from salt lake city to lindon or spanish fork. sister juang and i cover two branches. our area is so big that to get from one end to another would take about 7-8 hours on bike. there are definitely parts that i will not see while serving here. our district is so great! elder lancaster the district leader is a former a.p. i think he was in the office for 6 moves or something like that; it can be assumed that he is a favorite of president and sister hsu. elder swenson is from salt lake and went to east. he knows a lot of people i know. he graduated with chelsea price. then there's elder chen. he's from northern taiwan and is only 18 years old. his english is amazing. when i first met him i thought he was american. he's really really funny. his companion is elder mickelsen from washington state. he's funny in a different way. kind of goofy. he always plays babylon songs on the piano and gets us all distracted. on saturday we had a big fireside about the power of preach my gospel and how members can and should use it with both of the branches we cover and all of us missionaries sang, so to get ready we practiced a lot. our medley of "a poor wayfaring man of grief" and "because i have been given much" turned out "moving" and it was fun to get to know everyone really well early on.
so, my first day in pingdong will make you so happy. it made me chaoji kuai le, exceedingly happy. we went straight to a university about 45 minutes away. i was kind of bugged that my letter writing time was being impeded until i found out what we were doing... watching the english department do they're graduation play... HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL. what? you all know how i live for the love story of troy and gabriella. it was so good. they all put so much work into it. they sang and danced and spoke english through the same thing. it got even better... when the play was over they played "the final countdown", the song that g.o.b. on arrested development does all of his illusions too. could i have been thinking about my favorite aspects of american pop culture even more? only if sufjan had walked on stage and started singing from the michigan album. needless to say, it was a great start to the love affair that his been growing more intense by the day.
(chloe- they are playing "this is why i'm hot" in the email place. i'm think of you and how you're hot 'cause you're fly and i'm not 'cause i'm not.)
my companion is sister jean juang. oh my word! she's spectacular. we have so so so much fun together. we are really similar and we have had the most engaging conversations i've had in a LONG time. we've discussed everything from politics to email providers to couple dynamics to books and movies. we're alike enough that our conversations flow but different enough that they stay interesting. i know that we'll be friends post mission. i am so excited for the things we have planned (a c.s. lewis book club, luv it's frozen custard, hsm viewing party and more). i think she figured out early on how incredibly awkward i am, and how i sometimes fumble with the words inside my head. for example, on thursday, our second day together, as we left the church after being stood up, entwined in conversation about the corruption of the two party system in america, i said something to the effect of, "i need to find a male version of you to marry." whoa! am i a super creep or what? almost as bad as the missionary that asked dad if he had ever considered homosexual relations. but she laughed and agreed.
on sunday night i met my new favorite taiwanese family, wang jiating (the hongs are still close to my heart and always will be). you would love them too. the dad breeds birds and fish. he has a ton of the fish that lauren used to have with the big eyes and the bubbly heads. and, dad, he has a TON of orchids. there are actually orchids all over the place here. they are all over the trees at elementary school where we run and the other day we passed a floral shop with nothing but orchids. i thought of beloved small paul instantly. anyway, they have two children. the oldest is a fifteen year old girl that helped me a ton with chinese. she and i chatted the whole time we were there. she's learning japanese, korean, french and english and i think another language so i taught her some icelandic. she's really cute and really nice. the second is her eight year old brother. he is the most flexible creature i've ever met. and i think he loves me. he hung on me the whole time. he and i did a pokemon i spy book together and he rubbed my ears phoebe makalea style and gave me a throat massage out of nowhere. i was so confused, i thought he was going to try to choke me. when his mom asked him what he was doing he said he was massaging my throat for me. funny kid. we weren't able to teach a lot because they are so chatty, but i know they feel something. they are such great people already. i know the gospel could really bless their family. they are so kind. they fed us pickled mangoes (so good) and flying fish chips which are ground up flying fish meat mixed with flour and water then fried. they offered the two sisters before me the spare rooms in their home, now or if they ever return to taiwan. so awesome! many taiwanese people are truly examples of charity.
what else...
on saturday i met my first taiwanese prostitute. after a singing practice we headed to an appointment and rode past the elders stopped and talking to a woman. that was the first sign of weirdness, elders don't contact women. we stopped at a light and they whistled for us to go back. we did. elder swenson said, "she says she wants to get baptized. i don't know what her problem is." the woman looked rough but nice enough. the elders said they were late to an appointment and told us to talk to her. she got really rude as soon as they left. the kept saying the name of another elder and some president. she wouldn't look at us. she'd always look past us. when we tried to talk to her she would just say "i want to get baptized. give me your card." then she left without saying anything. the feeling was really weird. not like something bad was going on, but the spirit was definitely not present. my companion said that she had eye contact for a moment and got a really weird feeling. later we talked to the elders, they said that she followed them after they left. and then told us she was a prostitute. crazy!
on sunday i tried thousand year old egg. it's a traditional taiwanese dish. it used to be made with horse urine but now they use ammonia. somehow they cook the egg in ammonia and it turns black. a lot of missionaries are scared to try it. i thought it was so good! it has a really interesting texture and taste. i also ate fish the way you think of it being served in taiwan, a whole fish on the table, being picked at by chopsticks. and coagulated pig blood, i like duck blood more. all of this was served by the qiu family. they are so awesome, really really kind to the missionaries. they have a 16 old daughter that is so great! i love her. she comes to our lessons a lot. she's going to add me, lauren and chloe on facebook, so keep your eye out for her (courtny chiu).
so, in closing... life as a missionary continues to be great, but i do miss home a lot. i can't wait to get to talk to you all. dad, i don't think you realize that calling on sunday means at 6 in the morning, versus 3 in the afternoon on saturday. saturday would be better for me i think so plan on that. mom, have a pen and paper because i'm going to tell you somethings i need sent and some things you need to go find and eat in chinatown. thank you all for being great! i love love love you!!!
love,
jade, zeng yu xin
family, i'm happy to hear about all you're doing. i'm sad to have missed the luau! i'm sure you were all amazing. and dad! way to go! you have to send pictures of you and the rest of the family soon. i might be starting to forget what you all look like. just kidding! i would never.
so, i'm in pingdong. it is so cool. i love it here. it's a lot a lot a lot more rural. like moving from salt lake city to lindon or spanish fork. sister juang and i cover two branches. our area is so big that to get from one end to another would take about 7-8 hours on bike. there are definitely parts that i will not see while serving here. our district is so great! elder lancaster the district leader is a former a.p. i think he was in the office for 6 moves or something like that; it can be assumed that he is a favorite of president and sister hsu. elder swenson is from salt lake and went to east. he knows a lot of people i know. he graduated with chelsea price. then there's elder chen. he's from northern taiwan and is only 18 years old. his english is amazing. when i first met him i thought he was american. he's really really funny. his companion is elder mickelsen from washington state. he's funny in a different way. kind of goofy. he always plays babylon songs on the piano and gets us all distracted. on saturday we had a big fireside about the power of preach my gospel and how members can and should use it with both of the branches we cover and all of us missionaries sang, so to get ready we practiced a lot. our medley of "a poor wayfaring man of grief" and "because i have been given much" turned out "moving" and it was fun to get to know everyone really well early on.
so, my first day in pingdong will make you so happy. it made me chaoji kuai le, exceedingly happy. we went straight to a university about 45 minutes away. i was kind of bugged that my letter writing time was being impeded until i found out what we were doing... watching the english department do they're graduation play... HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL. what? you all know how i live for the love story of troy and gabriella. it was so good. they all put so much work into it. they sang and danced and spoke english through the same thing. it got even better... when the play was over they played "the final countdown", the song that g.o.b. on arrested development does all of his illusions too. could i have been thinking about my favorite aspects of american pop culture even more? only if sufjan had walked on stage and started singing from the michigan album. needless to say, it was a great start to the love affair that his been growing more intense by the day.
(chloe- they are playing "this is why i'm hot" in the email place. i'm think of you and how you're hot 'cause you're fly and i'm not 'cause i'm not.)
my companion is sister jean juang. oh my word! she's spectacular. we have so so so much fun together. we are really similar and we have had the most engaging conversations i've had in a LONG time. we've discussed everything from politics to email providers to couple dynamics to books and movies. we're alike enough that our conversations flow but different enough that they stay interesting. i know that we'll be friends post mission. i am so excited for the things we have planned (a c.s. lewis book club, luv it's frozen custard, hsm viewing party and more). i think she figured out early on how incredibly awkward i am, and how i sometimes fumble with the words inside my head. for example, on thursday, our second day together, as we left the church after being stood up, entwined in conversation about the corruption of the two party system in america, i said something to the effect of, "i need to find a male version of you to marry." whoa! am i a super creep or what? almost as bad as the missionary that asked dad if he had ever considered homosexual relations. but she laughed and agreed.
on sunday night i met my new favorite taiwanese family, wang jiating (the hongs are still close to my heart and always will be). you would love them too. the dad breeds birds and fish. he has a ton of the fish that lauren used to have with the big eyes and the bubbly heads. and, dad, he has a TON of orchids. there are actually orchids all over the place here. they are all over the trees at elementary school where we run and the other day we passed a floral shop with nothing but orchids. i thought of beloved small paul instantly. anyway, they have two children. the oldest is a fifteen year old girl that helped me a ton with chinese. she and i chatted the whole time we were there. she's learning japanese, korean, french and english and i think another language so i taught her some icelandic. she's really cute and really nice. the second is her eight year old brother. he is the most flexible creature i've ever met. and i think he loves me. he hung on me the whole time. he and i did a pokemon i spy book together and he rubbed my ears phoebe makalea style and gave me a throat massage out of nowhere. i was so confused, i thought he was going to try to choke me. when his mom asked him what he was doing he said he was massaging my throat for me. funny kid. we weren't able to teach a lot because they are so chatty, but i know they feel something. they are such great people already. i know the gospel could really bless their family. they are so kind. they fed us pickled mangoes (so good) and flying fish chips which are ground up flying fish meat mixed with flour and water then fried. they offered the two sisters before me the spare rooms in their home, now or if they ever return to taiwan. so awesome! many taiwanese people are truly examples of charity.
what else...
on saturday i met my first taiwanese prostitute. after a singing practice we headed to an appointment and rode past the elders stopped and talking to a woman. that was the first sign of weirdness, elders don't contact women. we stopped at a light and they whistled for us to go back. we did. elder swenson said, "she says she wants to get baptized. i don't know what her problem is." the woman looked rough but nice enough. the elders said they were late to an appointment and told us to talk to her. she got really rude as soon as they left. the kept saying the name of another elder and some president. she wouldn't look at us. she'd always look past us. when we tried to talk to her she would just say "i want to get baptized. give me your card." then she left without saying anything. the feeling was really weird. not like something bad was going on, but the spirit was definitely not present. my companion said that she had eye contact for a moment and got a really weird feeling. later we talked to the elders, they said that she followed them after they left. and then told us she was a prostitute. crazy!
on sunday i tried thousand year old egg. it's a traditional taiwanese dish. it used to be made with horse urine but now they use ammonia. somehow they cook the egg in ammonia and it turns black. a lot of missionaries are scared to try it. i thought it was so good! it has a really interesting texture and taste. i also ate fish the way you think of it being served in taiwan, a whole fish on the table, being picked at by chopsticks. and coagulated pig blood, i like duck blood more. all of this was served by the qiu family. they are so awesome, really really kind to the missionaries. they have a 16 old daughter that is so great! i love her. she comes to our lessons a lot. she's going to add me, lauren and chloe on facebook, so keep your eye out for her (courtny chiu).
so, in closing... life as a missionary continues to be great, but i do miss home a lot. i can't wait to get to talk to you all. dad, i don't think you realize that calling on sunday means at 6 in the morning, versus 3 in the afternoon on saturday. saturday would be better for me i think so plan on that. mom, have a pen and paper because i'm going to tell you somethings i need sent and some things you need to go find and eat in chinatown. thank you all for being great! i love love love you!!!
love,
jade, zeng yu xin
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